Breathing heavily, his shoulders heaving, Elias Archie ’26 leapt out of his kneeling position across the start line and into a blistering sprint. Archie — who recently broke Brown’s program record in the 60-meter dash — flew over the finish in front of scouts from the National Football League’s New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans.
Crossing that finish line, the two-sport cornerback and sprinter had just finished the 40-yard dash portion of Tuesday’s first-ever on-campus football pro day. At the event — hosted in the brand-new gleaming Penner Field House — three graduating players showcased their skills for their chance to continue their football journeys at the professional level. Archie was joined by wide receivers Solomon Miller ’26 and Ty Pezza ’26.
“I love being able to support (the players’) goal of playing professionally,” Head Coach James Perry ’00 said. He said the players had a “good performance today,” which he thinks “is a great reflection of some of the player development things we’re doing as a program.”
Perry explained that access to Penner Field House was “powerful” for hosting the exhibition. He hopes to make the Pro Day an annual occurrence. At pro days, which occur at schools across the country, collegiate football players are given an opportunity to showcase their athletic prowess to NFL teams.
At Penner House, the scouts ran the show — giving instructions to the players in addition to measuring and timing the exercises. Following pro day, NFL teams may offer players the opportunity to spend more time with the team, whether that be through training camp or one-off workouts.
Though Archie, Miller and Pezza performed many of the same tests, the three athletes see different football journeys for themselves.
In an interview with The Herald, Pezza said his ultimate goal is to sign a professional contract. Brown’s 2025 receiving leader said he will continue pursuing professional football “for as long as it goes.”
Ty Pezza ’26
Courtesy of Jimmy Picerelli via Brown Athletics
Pezza said that he has plans to attend another pro day at Bryant University next week, adding that the trial will give him a “chance to get in front of the most amount of scouts that I can see.”
Archie also plans to fully pursue an athletic career.
“You only get a certain amount of time in your life to play professionally,” the star defensive back told The Herald in an interview. “You can work any day in your life.”
Elias Archie ’26 Courtesy of Jimmy Picerelli via Brown Athletics
Miller, meanwhile, was “on the fence about even” coming to the pro day. He plans to move to Charlotte, N.C, and work in internal consulting after graduating this May.
But he hopes he’s not done with the sport entirely — the receiver may explore playing flag football in the 2028 Summer Olympics.
Tuesday’s exhibition began in the weight room. Miller and Pezza cranked out 15 and 20 repetitions of 225 pounds on the bench press, respectively. Archie joined the receivers for the vertical jump, and all three showed off their lower-body strength while exploding more than 30 inches into the air.
As they migrated onto the turf for the broad jump and movement-based exercises, Archie, Miller and Pezza noted their teammates lined up against the far wall in support.
Archie said he definitely “perform(ed) better today” because of his teammates’ presence. “It’s huge ... they’re my brothers, for sure,” he added.
After the box jump came the 40. Miller and Archie — both Brown track standouts — didn’t miss their chance to shine, recording blindingly fast times of 4.40 seconds and 4.29 seconds, respectively.
Archie’s “specific goal” for the day was to secure a sub-4.30 time. “Thankfully, I got that today,” he said.
Miller was also pleased with his 40 time, but he noted that the next set of drills — the 20-yard shuttle and 3-cone drills — are “a lot more technical,” and he wished he had “prepare(d) for those a little more.”
Having completed the agility drills, Miller and Pezza moved on to the receiving showcase. Catching passes from Brown starting quarterback James Murphy ’27, the two wideouts demonstrated their route-running aptitude in short, medium and deep patterns.
The pro day wrapped up with the two NFL scouts observing Archie’s ball security skills and body control while walking him through several position-specific exercises.
Standing on the field’s sideline after the exhibition’s conclusion, Miller reflected that even though he doesn’t plan to pursue professional tackle football, he was glad he showed up.
It will be “really cool to say I did a pro day when I grow up,” he said.
Sajiv Mehta is a senior staff writer covering sports. He is from Scarsdale, New York and plans on concentrating in English and American Studies. In his free time, he can be found reading an encyclopedic novel or watching the Yankees.
